Kingdom Hearts III: Final Mix

Disclaimer: I do not own the story or characters featured in this story. They are the sole creation of the Walt Disney Co., Square Enix, Pixar, Tetsuya Nomura and Marvel Comics. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 31: Beginnings of B.A.L.A.M.B.

Inside the castle, Riku and Mickey saw the limp form of the lowly soldier who gave his life for a cause bigger than himself lying on the floor via one of the computer monitors in Ansem's study. His definitive sacrifice was enough to leave everyone in the room speechless.

"He did what his heart willed her to," Mickey replied solemnly, knowing the unfortunate truth that saving the life of his superiors required the Restoration Commitee member seemingly signing his own death warrant.

"There's one thing we can take from this, however," Dilan added grimly. "The Heartless weren't diminishing from this world- they were biding time and growing stronger in secret. Master Xehanort must've wanted to eradicate the world where many of the loose ends about him were, to leave the King, Riku, and the others ignorant of some greater plan."

"Then does that mean there's going to be... a war on our hands on our home turf?" Yuffie asked.

"Not necessarily," Cid remarked as everyone turned their attention towards the engineer who was working with Ienzo and Cindy. "I've been upgrading the CLAYMORE system with Ienzo's help using backup from the old computer system: the Grid."

"I know that place!" Riku spoke up. "It was one of the Sleeping Worlds me and Sora came across in our test! But that place is swarming with the guards of a guy named CLU still."

"No, I took care of that too," a new voice mentioned, revealing himself to be Sam Flynn, the young man the heroes came across in the Grid, who sought to free his father (and the program's creator) from cyberspace.

"Sam," Riku said in relief, pleased to see an old friend, along with the former ISO Quorra. "What are you doing here in Radiant Garden?"

"After me and Quorra escaped the Grid, the two of us ended up here, and then Ienzo and the others helped us get settled in. This is my dad's old tech, so I think I can be able to repurpose it stronger than before. And besides, I promised that I'd show Quorra a new lease on life since she's free," Sam explained.

"And while we dug around, we found one of Ansem the Wise's old military defense programs. He called it BALAMB, and from what we could gather, it involves biotech to create a line of super soldiers," Ienzo continued. "But we'll need some volunteers to be able to assist with protecting the city, and somebody willing to lead them into battle."

"I'll lead them," Leon offered. "We've come too far to save this place only for it to fall apart all over again. I can't let that happen; I won't."

"That's good, now we just need to have an old friend put the CLAYMORE system in action," Ienzo informed the group, before speaking through a microphone to some kind of presence in the computer. "Tron! Did you hear all that?"

"Of course, Ienzo. How can I be of assistance?" the voice of the software's Master Control Program inquired.

"I need you to put the new defense system into action quickly, and run some test simulations for Leon and our first new recruits."

"And who would those recruits be?"

"Their names are Mickey and Riku," Leon answered, much to the shock of the two Keyblade wielders.

"Us?" Riku asked in shock.

"Why not?" Cid remarked. "Any friend of Sora's is a friend of ours! And you both look like you can take it."

"But that's not the point! You didn't even-" Riku began before Mickey scowled at his friend.

"Riku! You don't have to be so rude!" Mickey told him as they stepped forward, ready to enter Space Paranoids for a training bout alongside Leon. As the light from the computer shined on them, they awoke to find themselves in a data version of Maleficent's old castle. Riku was in his Keyblade armor, while Mickey and Leon were in their regular attire, summoning their weapons forth as a horde of Darkballs, Wyverns, Wizards and Defenders slowly approached them.

"This must be part of the training." Leon remarked.

"That is correct," Ienzo told the heroes as they were ready for battle. "Your goal is to defeat as many waves of Heartless as you can. If you're ready, then we can begin in three... two... one."

And that finishes this new chapter; and what a way to end it, huh? I hope you enjoyed this little update and please remember to leave a review to let me know what you think about the story! See you next time, and may your heart be your guiding key.